How to write your CV (and much more), or anti-Barnum

The popular acclaim of my "Horoscope CV, or the Barnum Effect" post exceeded my wildest expectations. It has thousands of readers and the number is continuously growing. This is a clear sign that, despite its apparent banality (almost everyone writes CV a few times in their life), the subject is alive and kicking... and still can be approached in an interesting way. I was encouraged by readers to elaborate on the matter; after providing clear-cut instructions on how not to write a CV I should also counsel on how it is actually done. This challenge is obviously greater, because writing a CV is like football or cooking - everyone is an expert...

Let's start by asking seemingly the simplest question of all – why do we write a CV? Well, certainly not in order to get a job. It is quite a common simplification. Even one popular comedy sketch explains that the translation of “Curriculum Vitae” is "I don’t have a job." The point is no one will get a job just because they submitted their CV. Its sole and crucial objective is to get us invited to a job interview and only there you play to win (or lose). During the interview we also find out about the details of the job that will help us make a decision whether we really want the job or not. Basically, after the initial reading of the job description (by us) and the CV (by the employer) both parties are only at a blind date level. So let us repeat then, as it is worth remembering – the purpose of the CV is to get us invited to the interview. This conclusion is followed by something very important, which should also be our constant reminder. If someone is to invite us to an interview, it means... there must be someone who reads our CV! Trivial, isn’t it? Alas, it is not! How often do we tend to forget that we are writing a CV meant for someone else to read, not just for ourselves? For someone, who has just as little time as we do, who isn’t necessarily a professional information analyst (and even if they are, what if they are having a bad day?). That reader needs help in understanding our message swiftly and sufficiently. That reader, whom we want to like us and be on our side, instead of getting angry over the torment of interpretation "What did that guy mean by this or that?" Still trivial? Not so much anymore, right? At this point, we already know why we write a CV (an invitation) and that we write it for someone, who is not sitting inside of our head and will only know as much as given on paper and left to their own devices to interpret it.

And now some very bad news - there is no "perfect" CV formula. That’s it. End of story. If you believe something like that exists, give up all hope. The European Union once tried to create a universal pattern for a CV and it turned out terrible. When I get a document with the EU logo (thankfully, less frequently with time), I immediately despise it. I know that I'll be hacking through far too many pages of disorganized information like through a jungle with a machete. But the fact that there is no perfect formula also has a positive side. There is no wizard of the labor market, who somehow possessed secret knowledge and will do this for us and, even worse, instead of us. I do know people, who have paid loads of money to some foreign consulting companies for writing their CV, and then were surprised that it did not bring a spectacular breakthrough in their career. All we need is simply a CV good enough, not a perfect one (which, as mentioned, does not exist). You can write it all yourself. All you should do is follow a few fundamental principles of communication, rather than dozens of more or less sensible specific pieces of advice (usually less ...) found on the Internet.

OK, but let's get back to writing, because there’s still only a blank page (or rather, a computer screen) in front of us. Before we even start typing let’s do our most important homework - let's determine and write down on a piece of paper (yes, it's intentional now, on paper) the purpose of your career. It must be simple and accurate, up to two sentences long, easy to understand and remember for anybody, who listens. Then, still on paper(!), write down your skills and experiences that can help you accomplish that objective, as well as irrelevant ones or even those that only obscures it. CV is not a compilation of everything we ever did (it could be useful, you never know, and I’ve done so much in my life, even though when put together it does not make much sense...). This should be a clear message, "My aim is this and that, and following is a list of measurable evidence that calls for it." This can be reduced to a simple tip - even the most tired and clueless reader has to figure out clearly who we are and where we want to be. And so that he doesn’t have to guess, we may put it right up at the top of the page (as long as it’s straightforward, short, precise and understandable). There is no point in leaving it open for interpretation. I repeat - help the recipient. CV is not a storage room for all kinds of merchandise; it’s a guidebook to justify the idea of your professional goal. It’s our job to make it easy and clear for the reader and not the other way round.

Shall we have an example? One manager I personally know has done some very different types of work in his life. He spent almost equal periods of time working at a university, managing production, and in sales. When writing his CV he assumed that if the periods were identical then they deserve equal space in the document (because everywhere he worked he did important things). Imagine his surprise when he heard that recipients of his CV had no idea who he was and what he aspired to. If there was an open position in any of his three areas, the recruiter would certainly start from inviting the clear-cut candidates first. It's too risky to invest time in questionable hypotheses (after all, recruiters are pure evil, and "it’s their entire fault" :-), but they are not as silly as we think they are...). The principle is the same as in a game of bridge – we play the cards with the highest probability of success. I asked my friend if he knows where he wants to develop. "Of course!, he replied, It’s sales I’m interested in and I don’t want to go back to teaching or production." Oh, now we're talking! In consequence he rearranged his CV - the period of sales management took most of the space and was filled with precise information (numbers, achievements, projects etc.). On the other hand, the periods of work at the university and in production provided only those elements that supported the "I am a salesperson" idea, knowingly avoiding irrelevant information, no matter how interesting they might have been. Obviously, the other two descriptions (production, university) became shorter. As a result - the document became clearer and truly represented the man we were dealing with - a salesperson. It all began though with a "define your professional target before you put pen to paper" step. Think before you act. To prove the point I can say this manager lived happily ever after, simply managing sales ... (I do not want to come up with an American guidebook kind of story that James / Henry / Mary immediately received five job offers of a lifetime, became CEOs, millionaires, drive Ferraris, and their wives / husbands love them even more for that. Such stories can only be found in weekend guidebooks... :-).

At this point I can practically finish writing anti-Barnum guidelines, because we already know why / for whom / and for what specific professional objective are we creating a CV. If we stick to the three paradigms at all times (writing every word, every number, describing every single achievement), the rest is just a technical issue of creating a neat document without any peculiarities.

However, as these technical issues come with a number of pitfalls and myths (or peculiarities, in fact), let me take care of them as well... only in the next part of the article, coming soon.

Summary:

- a CV is there so that we are invited to an interview, nothing more

- there is someone, who reads our CV, so let’s try to read it through his eyes

- there is no perfect CV formula

- determine your professional goal, which is the main subject of your CV

- a CV is not a general purpose storage; it’s a guidebook to justify the idea of your professional goal. We only include the experience that supports that professional goal.

Trivial? So let’s take a look into your CV…

Please continue the journey of career planning via next post "Career planning, or the scenes from life of lion tamer".